Marc Myers writes daily on jazz legends and legendary jazz recordings

April 04, 2014

Video: Johnny Hodges, 1969

Johnny Hodges was an alto saxophonist who joined Duke Ellington in 1928 and developed a sweet, high-vibrato sound popularized in the 1930s by Benny Carter. He also was one of the smoothest swing improvisers on the instrument, praised by reed masters from Benny Goodman to Charlie Parker. Yesterday, I spent a few hours listening to "Rabbit," as Hodges was known, so I thought I'd share a few terrific video clips from 1969 with you...

Here's Hodges with Ellington in Berlin in 1969 on Don't Get Around Much Anymore....

Wall Street Journal alert! Today, I interview Leonard Nimoy ("Mr. Spock") on his home in Bel Air. At the end, when I asked if he had Star Trek uniforms hanging in his closet, he said no but told me about something else sitting on his office desk in a black box. [Go here or please buy the paper.] [Photo of Leonard Nimoy above by Stephanie Diani for The Wall Street Journal]

About

Marc Myers writes on music and the arts for The Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (Univ. of California Press). Founded in 2007, JazzWax is a Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year" winner.